Lancashire - Paranormal Database Records

Drifting Figure

Location: Rivington - Rivington CastleType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1967Further Comments: A team of workmen on site claimed to have seen a strange white figure floating around the castle before it disappeared.

John Ellis

Location: Rochdale - April Cotton Florists, 413 Oldham RoadType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: January 2008Further Comments: Even though Rochdale's last public executioner John Ellis committed suicide in 1932, his former barbershop is still thought to contain his shade. An invisible entity pushed one man while he was working alone in the shop, and later slapped the same man's rear.

Internal Rain

Location: Rochdale - Bungalow along Hill Top CloseType: PoltergeistDate / Time: 1986Further Comments: A family living here were plagued by regular flooding from an unknown source - investigations could not find where the water was coming from. Sounds of phantom coughing and smell of smoke also filled the rooms.

Two Children

Location: Rochdale - Clegg HallType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 2002Further Comments: Though murdered by their uncle who wanted their inheritance, the ghosts of the two children have managed to survive at least one exorcism. The shades are thought to have finally driven their murderer mad. A visitor to the ruin in 2002 felt something take her hand as she walked through the door, and another presence catch her as she slipped in the mud outside.

Location: Rochdale - Norden Riviera Open Air Swimming Pool (no longer standing)Type: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1940s - 1960sFurther Comments: A phantom male figure was said to have been seen on a number of occasions standing outside this open air pool. It is not known if the figure remained after the pool was demolished in the mid 1960s.

Betty

Location: Rochdale - Owd Betts public houseType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: Betty, or 'Owd Betts, was the landlady at the pub during the mid nineteenth century. After her death is was believed that she remained on the site, occasionally heard walking around the site while looking out for bar staff.

Baum Rabbit

Location: Rochdale - St Mary's Churchyard (no longer present)Type: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Pre twentieth century?Further Comments: A ghostly bunny haunted this area for many years, and was reportedly shot at least once - each time the buckshot passing straight through its body. The ghostly figure of a man was also reported at the churchyard, drifting slowly above the ground.

Location: Rochdale - Toad Lane, and area around St Mary's ChurchType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1970sFurther Comments: The shady outline of an unknown man is said to have appeared here several times during the 1970s.

Spaceship Alley

Location: Rossendale Valley - General areaType: UFODate / Time: Late twentieth centuryFurther Comments: This part of the county has so many reports of strange nocturnal lights that it justifies the dramatic nickname. However, cynics name British Aerospace as a possible source for the displays.

Bright White Dog

Location: Rufford - A59 near SolomType: ShuckDate / Time: August 1999, 22:00hFurther Comments: The witness to this entity crashed his car after swerving to avoid the partially transparent dog which ran out into the road.

Woman in Blue

Location: Rufford - Area around Rufford New HallType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: A woman dressed in blue is said to haunt the area around the lake, disappearing if approached. Woodland in the vicinity is also said to be haunted by man in suits and phantom hounds.

Floating Figure

Location: Rufford - Canal behind Rufford Old HallType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: A figure is said to cross the canal, floating in the air where a footbridge once stood which leads to the towpath.

Lizard

Location: Rufford - Woods around the areaType: CryptozoologyDate / Time: UnknownFurther Comments: It has been reported that woodland around this area is home of a green and red lizard the size of a large dog. The creature is also said to have been seen digging in the parish church...

Healing Waters

Location: Sabden - Fairy WellType: FairyDate / Time: Still present?Further Comments: The one time rendezvous point of the little folk, their magical powers ensured the water of the well cured the sick.

Figure with Laser Eyes

Location: Sale - Drayton Road, Risley exit from the motorwayType: UFODate / Time: 17 March 1978Further Comments: A driver pulled over to watch a two metre tall creature, dressed in silver and with thin beams of light coming from its large eyes, as it moved along the embankment by the side of the road. When the witness arrived home, he discovered that he had 'lost' almost an hour.

Location: Sale - Private residence, Brooklands areaType: PoltergeistDate / Time: 1993-1994Further Comments: A couple experienced a poltergeist outbreak here, with activities including dimming lights, bell ringing and cracked or moved kitchenware. On one occasion, the couple left the site after the electricity was switched off at the mains - once outside they looked back and all the lights in the residence were switched on.

Flying Coin

Location: Salford - Black Lion Public House, Chapel StreetType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 2008 (and ongoing)Further Comments: Figures of men, women and a child have been reported in this public house, as well as disembodied voices, opening doors, furniture and glasses moving unaided, and a coin which threw itself across an empty room.

Policeman

Location: Salford - Church of Saint Thomas, locally called Pendleton ChurchType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1950s onwards?Further Comments: This church is reputedly haunted by a policeman who died ringing the bells on the Queen's coronation.

Scratching

Location: Salford - Flat along Lower Broughton RoadType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: 1977Further Comments: This flat was haunted by a scratching sound from the floor, walls and ceiling - one former resident described it as 'a dog slipping on lino'. Sheets would be pulled off the bed, and the sensation of hands or paws would be felt moving up the body when lying down in the bedroom.

Blurred Figure

Location: Salford - Irwell Castle HotelType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Twentieth centuryFurther Comments: This dark figure has been seen at the back of the hotel, seemingly slightly out of focus with the rest of his surroundings.

Location: Salford - Old factory behind Cromwell Bridge on Littleton RoadType: Haunting ManifestationDate / Time: Twentieth centuryFurther Comments: The phantom figure in a cloak was seen to glide silently down from a balcony to the maze of factory machinery, The entity is said to have been seen by a number of staff at the factory, and one night guard fled after encountering it. A local story says that the ghost is of William Douglas, who owned a workhouse on the site.